On Taking Care Of Teal Plants
by Nuclear Eggs
Summary: There was no doubt about it - Miku had turned into a potted plant. Luka tries to take care of her. Miku/Luka, written for an anon prompt.


One day, Luka woke up to a beautiful summer morning. She yawned, went about her morning routine, and slumped over to the kitchen, rubbing sleep from her eyes. That was where she discovered that Miku had turned into a potted plant.

For a moment, she couldn't quite believe it. However, Miku had dozed off at the kitchen table last night, which was where the plant now was, and littered around the plant were Miku's clothes. Unless Miku was the type to spontaneously strip off her clothes in the morning, place a plant where she once was, and run away, but Luka highly doubted that. Also, the plant was the exact same shade as Miku's hair, which, Luka had to admit, was a stunning coincidence if Miku hadn't spontaneously turned into a plant.

"Miku?" said Luka tentatively. It might have been her imagination, but she could have sworn that the plant perked up upon hearing her voice. "Why are you a plant?"

Miku's leaves rustled a little sheepishly. If Miku wasn't a plant, Luka would have imagined that she was shrugging.

Luka glanced back over her shoulder to make sure that she was alone. "Could you turn back to normal?"

There was a long silence. The plant was utterly still. Luka could not believe that she was talking to a plant. Maybe Miku really _was_ out there somewhere, and she just happened to leave a plant in her place. Strange things were possible in this world.

"Morning, Luka!" said Rin cheerfully as she marched into the kitchen. Then, she did a double-take. "Whoa!...is Miku a plant?"

"I'm not sure," said Luka.

Rin furrowed her eyebrows and walked over. "Well, if she's not a plant, she's totally naked somewhere, because her clothes are all over the floor."

"Um," said Luka, trying her best not to think of Miku naked, "Yeah."

Rin frowned and reached out to the plant. The plant leaned away from Rin's fingers.

"One sec," said Rin, and she got up, walked over to the fridge, and rustled around for something. She returned with a green onion.

The plant immediately started shaking, as though there was a strong breeze blowing through the kitchen, and its leaves seemed to _reach_ _out_ to the green onion.

"Well," said Rin with some satisfaction, "I think that settles it! Miku's a plant. Though," Rin scowled, "why'd she freak out when I tried to touch her? Does the same thing happen to you?"

"Why are you so calm about Miku being a plant?" Luka sighed. "This is really inconvenient." She reached out to one of Miku's leaves. Miku the plant stayed perfectly still as Luka stroked it.

"Huh," said Rin. "That's weird." She reached out to touch Miku's leaves again, but Miku recoiled from her, practically leaning her entire...plant-body onto Luka's hand. Luka, on her part, wasn't entirely sure of what to think of this.

"Why are you two sitting around a plant?" said Len as he walked in. "Also, why are Miku's clothes on the floor?"

"Miku's a plant now," said Rin.

"Oh," Len placed his hand on his chin. "I guess we save on buying green onions then! If she's a plant, she won't need any, right?"

The Miku-plant immediately raised her leaves in some kind of plant expression of horror. The movement was so sudden the pot that contained Miku almost fell to the floor, if it wasn't for Luka quickly catching hold of it.

"Oh come on, Miku, you can't even _eat_ those things anymore," Rin complained.

"We'll keep buying them," said Luka, getting up and gently placing the plant on the counter. She took the stalk of green onion from Rin and planted it next to Miku in the dirt. Miku's leaves encircled the green onion in some kind of weird possessive plant movement. "Anyways, what're we going to do about this?"

"We? What's this...'we' you speak of?" Rin said. "You'll be the one taking care of her. I mean, she freaks out if anyone else tries to touch her, right?"

"Really?" said Len. He walked over to Miku, hand slightly raised. Miku leaned away. "Oh."

"_Me?_ But I've never owned a plant in my life! How can I deal with..._this?"_ Luka gestured at Miku. "Besides, I work on things alone. It'll be distracting with her there."

Miku's leaves wilted a little at that. Luka stared. For some reason, she felt a sting of guilt upon seeing Miku's reaction to her words.

"Luka! You hurt her feelings!" Len rushed over to the plant. "I-it's okay, Miku, you can stay with me if Luka's too mean."

Miku drooped even more. Luka chewed her lip. Miku looked so incredibly _dejected_ for a plant.

"Okay," Luka said. "I'll take care of her."

At once, Miku's leaves perked up. Luka sighed. "Be warned though...I've never taken care of a plant before."

"Eh, I'm sure you'll think of something," said Rin. "Now let's eat breakfast."

-o-o-o-

And so, Miku the plant found herself a place in Luka's room. Luka sighed as she stared at Miku. She wasn't sure if plants could see, but she didn't feel entirely comfortable changing with a potentially watchful Miku plant around. She would have to deal with that somehow.

First things first though, she had to figure out what kind of plant Miku was if she wanted to take care of her, and so Luka spent the next few minutes looking up varieties of houseplants. Miku seemed to be a kind of miniature schefflera, if such a thing existed, but she was teal, so maybe she was just some kind of weird Miku-plant thing.

"It says to keep your soil evenly moist," said Luka. "Um...does that mean I just water around you or something?"

Miku was silent. Of course. Luka sighed, picked up her water bottle, crouched down next to Miku, and stared intently at her. Miku gave no response. Maybe this was all some kind of elaborate prank, and this plant was just some kind of...dyed short schefflera or whatever. But then again, the way it had reacted to green onions...it simply wasn't possible to fake that.

"Well," said Luka aloud, feeling very foolish, "here's your water." She sprinkled some drops around Miku. "I'm going to, um, pat the dirt around you to make sure it's 'evenly moist'. Are you...okay with that?"

The plant rustled slightly, but it might have been due to the wind coming in through Luka's open window. Still, it was the closest thing to a 'yes' that Luka was ever going to get, so she patted the dirt around Miku. It felt evenly moist, she guessed. Whatever that meant. Still, how much water was she supposed to give to plants, anyways? And how many times was she supposed to water them? Taking care of a plant was more difficult than it looked.

"Well," said Luka, "just...make noises if you want anything."

Miku's leaves shook a little in a close approximation of a nod. Luka smiled and, feeling somewhat silly, patted the Miku-plant. Then, to her surprise, Miku wrapped her leaves around Luka's hand.

"I guess that's a handshake," Luka laughed, and Miku rustled in reply.

"How's Miku?" Len asked, pausing by Luka's door. "Is it okay if I come in?"

"Oh, uh, sure," said Luka, stepping away from Miku. Len hesitantly stepped into Luka's room, looking around before crouching in front of Miku.

"Hey Miku," said Len. "Are you getting along in Luka's room?"

Miku rustled.

"I wonder why she wants to stay in your room so badly," Len mused.

Luka shrugged and sat herself down on her chair. "I don't know. It's not like we talked a lot before."

"Yeah," Len nodded, "you're like a workaholic or something. Well," he turned back towards Miku, "I'm sure Luka will take care of you, Miku! And Luka, I did some research on taking care of plants." He dug out a print-out from his pocket. "Apparently mites are prone to attack her, so you have to spray her regularly. And you can't overwater her, otherwise she'll lose leaves. And finally, she has to be given a lot of light!"

"That's a lot to remember..."

"Like, where you have her now is way too dark," said Len. "Can I move her?"

"Um, sure."

Len nodded, picked Miku up, and placed her right next to Luka's desk. "Right here is good!"

"Really?" Luka wasn't sure about this. It could be distracting, but then again...how distracting could a plant be?

"It's the sunniest spot in the room," said Len, wiping his hands on his shorts. "Well, I'm off then. Good luck with taking care of Miku, Luka!"

"Y-yeah," said Luka. "Thanks."

-o-o-o-

As the days passed, Luka steadily became more used to the fact that Miku had turned into a plant. She watered her at regular times, tried to make sure that she was getting enough sunlight, sprayed her sometimes to keep the mites away, and changed her clothes in the bathroom.

However, one day, Miku seemed to be upset - or as upset as a plant could be - even though Luka had watered her for the day and she was sitting in a nice bright place in Luka's room. Her leaves were droopy and she seemed rather lethargic for a mostly inanimate object. Luka couldn't figure it out, and so decided to ask the other members of the household for help.

"She's a plant," said Rin. "I'd be upset too."

"Are you sure you're watering her?" was Len's input, and when Luka affirmed that she indeed had, he followed it up with, "Are you sure you're watering her _enough?"_

"Stick more green onions into her pot," said Meiko, even though Miku's pot was practically overflowing with them.

"Maybe she's bored," said Kaito. "You two should do something together."

Maybe. But Luka wasn't sure of what she could do with a plant.

"Do you want to do anything?" Luka asked.

Miku's leaves rustled desultorily. Luka glanced around her room for entertaining things before an idea hit her. She had read an article a few years ago, something about plants and music...

"Oh," Luka said, hitting her fist into her palm, "music! Do you want to listen to music?" Luka got up to her feet and walked over to her computer, staring at her music player. She then googled 'plants music' before opening the first article, which said that plants were healthiest when listening to heavy metal. Luka pulled up a random Necrophagist song from Youtube and held her headphones up to Miku.

"Hey Luka, do you know where the...what are you doing?" Meiko said as she walked into the room.

"This article said that plants liked music," Luka explained. "Apparently, heavy metal is the healthiest plant music."

Meiko frowned. "Sounds like vegetables for plants. Miku doesn't look like she's enjoying it that much."

Luka looked and Miku seemed to be dramatically recoiling from the headphones.

"Oh," said Luka, crestfallen. "But...science said..."

"You should pull up something poppier," said Meiko. "Kaito looked into this too and apparently talking to your plants is good for them."

"Really?"

Meiko shrugged. "It's worth a try."

-o-o-o-

At first it felt a little silly, having long conversations with a plant, but eventually Luka got used to it. Besides, it was sort of..._nice_, having someone to always talk to about anything, and Miku was probably one of the best listeners Luka ever had. And talking to Miku while working on her music helped Luka get through some issues faster anyways, so it was win-win on both ends. It wasn't really distracting having Miku there, contrary to Luka's initial fears, and as a result, Luka found herself opening up more and more to Miku, despite the fact that she was a plant.

Sometimes Miku would seem to be bored (a mood indicated by a general limpness of her leaves), so Luka would pick her up and take her on a walk around the house until she perked up again.

"Maybe you should take her on a walk outside, too," Kaito had said brightly one day when even a walk around the house wasn't enough to cure Miku of her boredom.

Luka stared. "So you mean I have to carry a plant around in public?"

"Well, sure," said Kaito. "What's wrong with that?"

"Who _does_ that?"

"A lot of people! Did you know that July 27th is 'Take Your Houseplant Out For A Walk' day?"

Luka had to admit that she didn't. It sounded awfully strange and niche. Still, Miku _did_ seem to be more bored than usual, so Luka stuck a green onion in her pot, laced her shoes, and, with Miku in tow, went on a walk.

"You are a high maintenance plant," she told Miku once they were outside.

Miku gave no response outside of a slight perking of her leaves. Luka sighed. It made some sort of sense, she supposed, that Miku would get bored of staying indoors all day. Back when she was normal, Miku often liked to go around outside. Luka bit her lip as she thought. It's been a while since Miku turned into a plant, but did she ever plan on turning back? What if Miku was a plant forever? Luka hoped that wasn't the case. Even though Miku was still _here, _in a sense, it wasn't the same as her being her usual self. In plant-form, Luka could talk to Miku, but Miku could never talk back, or sing, or eat, or do anything really other than sit there and rustle. It wasn't something they talked about, since, well, Miku was still _there_ in a sense, but Miku's absence could be felt in the household. Even though Miku in her new plant form was closest to Luka, Luka found herself sort of...missing Miku the way she was, though actually saying that to Miku was a bit much. What if Miku liked being a plant better? Luka didn't want to hurt Miku's new planty feelings.

Some of Miku's leaves were looking a little shriveled, so Luka hastily stroked them and they turned green and full again. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry I'm being quiet."

Miku rustled. Luka looked around to make sure that she was the only one walking around. She didn't really want to be seen as 'that weirdo who walks and talks to her houseplants.' "So...I'm curious, what does sticking green onions in the pot do for you? You can't...eat them, right?"

At the question, Miku's leaves instantly wrapped around the green onion, as if fearful Luka would take it.

"Oh, I'm not going to take it away from you," Luka said. She was afraid of the consequences if she tried, anyways - what if Miku tried to spit some kind of plant poison at her? Miku's leaves relaxed their hold a little, but she still seemed suspicious, so Luka continued. "I was just wondering. I guess you two share the same...dirt, so maybe it...I don't know." An idea occurred to her. 'Does it have something to do with your roots?"

Miku was utterly still. Luka stared at the dirt. She had no idea what the roots of this Miku plant looked like, but at the same time, it seemed sort of...overly intimate to dig around the only 'covering' Miku had. She wasn't sure what the human equivalent to 'plant root' would be, but it was better to preserve a sense of propriety.

"Well, I guess that's the best answer I'm gonna get," Luka said. The two of them walked on for a while longer until Luka saw Miki biking towards them. She froze.

"Oh," said Miki, raising a hand and slowing to a stop, "Luka, morning!...why are you carrying around a houseplant?"

"This is Miku," said Luka, displaying Miku.

Miki looked at Miku intently. "Wow, her leaves are the same color as her hair. Does she mind if I touch?"

"You're pretty calm about this...anyways, I don't know, she shrivels up when Rin tries to touch her."

"Oh," said Miki cheerily, "that's probably because it's Rin. I'm pretty good with plants, if I do say so myself!" That said, she gently reached out and touched one of Miku's leaves. Miku gave absolutely no reaction - no leaning away, no shriveling up - and Miki nodded in satisfaction. "She seems pretty healthy. Why is there a green onion stuck in her pot?"

"Because she likes green onions," said Luka.

Miki frowned. "Hmmm, but it's sort of crowding the plant, right? Here, I'll pull it out."

"No, wait-" Luka stammered, but it was too late. In one deft move, Miki took out the green onion.

Immediately, all of Miku's leaves shriveled up. A strange brownish color overtook Miku's stalk and Miku drooped forward as though she had not been watered in days.

"Oh my god," said Luka.

Miki's hand flew to her mouth, eyes wide in horror. "I-is she _dead?_ Just because I took out a green onion?"

"Quick, put it back!"

Miki nodded and stuck the green onion in the pot. Miku made a miraculous recovery.

"You're really overdramatic, aren't you," said Luka to Miku with a sigh, rubbing one of her leaves. Miku responded by wrapping some leaves around Luka's hands.

Miki stared. "Wow, Miku! You're lucky you're a plant, otherwise that'd be really obvious!"

Immediately Miku's leaves withdrew from Luka's hand and she rustled loudly.

"What's obvious?" Luka asked.

Miki shook her head, seeming to ignore Luka's words in favor of talking to Miku. "For the sake of what you want, I hope you turn back into normal soon. Some things just aren't possible when you're a plant, you know?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Um, excuse me, Luka, I'm talking to Miku."

"Miku's a plant!"

"So? Plants still have feelings! Right, Miku?"

Miku's leaves blew around enthusiastically.

"Judging from how she shriveled up and...whatever happened earlier," said Miki, "Miku has enough feelings to go around an entire greenhouse."

"She can get dramatic sometimes," said Luka.

"Yeah, I saw! Anyways," said Miki, getting back on her bike, "I'll leave you two to your walk. You two have fun now." That said, she biked off.

Luka sighed and looked at Miku. "'For the sake of what you want'? What do you want?"

Some of Miku's leaves moved in a close approximation of a shrug.

"I guess it's a mystery," said Luka with a smile. "Well, let's continue our walk."

-o-o-o-

"Miku," said Rin one day, "are you...stroking Luka's hand with your leaves?"

Miku's leaves sheepishly retreated from Luka's hand.

"Rin, she's just being affectionate," Luka sighed, shaking her head. Miku seemed to shake her leaves in accord. Honestly, people were so unaccepting sometimes.

"She's a _plant!_ Normal plants don't do that, and wait," said Rin, leaning forward to stare at Miku, "I think she's even growing...tiny flowers."

It was true. There were tiny multicolored flowers sprouting around Miku.

"W-well, anyways," said Rin, pulling back and shaking her head, "back on topic! I'm here to talk to Miku. Like," Rin turned to Miku, "I know right now you're doing your, um, plant thing, but we've been talking about remodeling your room into something like, I dunno, a recreation room or a book room or a living room or whatever. I just wanted to let you know."

Miku's leaves immediately shriveled. Luka stared at Rin.

"You're remodeling her room? You can't do that! She's still here!" Luka gestured at Miku. "Look at her."

"Well, she's not living in it either," said Rin. "It's been like, two months, so..."

Miku's leaves drooped even more. She looked as though she hadn't been watered in days. Luka gently rubbed one of Miku's leaves. Miku perked up a little, though not by much.

"You are _so_ high maintenance, Miku," Rin groaned.

"Well, you _are_ talking about remodeling her room," Luka pointed out. "Where would she stay if you take that away?"

"Obviously she'd stay in your room," said Rin. "It's a win-win for everyone."

"Um," said Luka, because she wasn't sure how long Miku planned on being a plant.

"Of course," said Rin, "if Miku goes back to normal, she'll get her room back...unless she prefers staying in Luka's room, of course," and she smirked.

Luka went red. Miku rustled loudly.

"Right," said Rin, and she got up. "Think about it, Miku!"

-o-o-o-

"You know," said Luka, some time after Rin left, "I don't mind that you're a plant. It's really strange, but it's been kind of fun."

Miku seemed to turn her attention to Luka. At least, the earphones resting on her leaves slipped off.

"But...at the same time, they're talking about remodeling your room since it's been so long," said Luka. "So, um. I don't know if you can turn back, or whatever, and I don't want to rush you, but you can turn back whenever you're ready. And I know the others miss you, so..." Luka trailed off. She wasn't really good at talking for long periods of time. Miku seemed to be paying attention though, or as much attention as a plant could muster. Luka sighed, reached out, and rubbed one of Miku's leaves. "Sorry, I'm rambling."

Miku rustled reassuringly. Or at least, Luka thought it was reassuring. Even though she was better at reading Miku's moods now, it was still a little difficult to translate plant rustles into emotion.

"I said I don't want to rush you, but..." Luka took a breath before going for it, "I really miss you too. Back when you were normal, we didn't really talk as much, right? I was working on things a lot, alone. But now that you're here all the time, well, I found that it's...nice, having you here. So, once you go back to normal, I promise we'll, um," Luka felt some heat in her cheeks. It felt as though she was on the edge of some kind of confession, "I promise that we'll spend time together, like how we do now. And you'd be welcome to hang out in my room, or whatever, whenever you want."

The tiny flowers in Miku's soil burst into full bloom. Luka stared at them. "Wow. That's good, right?"

Miku's leaves rustled loudly, and Luka smiled. Definitely good.

-o-o-o-

The next day, when Luka woke up, she found that Miku had transformed back to normal and was sleeping soundly on Luka's floor. She was surrounded by the green onions Luka had stuck in the dirt around her when she was still a plant. She was also completely naked, which, Luka supposed, made sense considering how she was a plant for the past few months, but still. Luka quickly averted her eyes, reached out, and poked Miku on the shoulder.

Miku stirred and slowly opened her eyes. "Huh...?" She stared at Luka for a few moments before her eyes widened and she looked down at herself. "O-oh!" She hurriedly covered herself with her hands and hair as best she could, face flaming red.

"Welcome back, I...I'll get you your clothes," said Luka, looking away from Miku.

-o-o-o-

"Miku! You're back!" Rin shouted, bounding up to her. "So the plan to threaten you into changing back by remodeling your room really _did_ work..."

"What was it like being a plant?" asked Meiko.

Rin stared at her. "Whoa. I forgot you were here. You've barely said anything this whole time."

"What? _Who_ exactly was the one who came up with the remodeling her room plan?"

"That didn't count! That was off screen!"

"What _was_ it like being a plant?" Luka asked Miku.

Miku laughed. "It was...okay. Kind of boring, but some parts of it were...um, nice."

Luka's throat felt dry. "Oh...really?"

"Yeah," Miku said. "I liked listening to you talk. It was fun."

"Really?" Luka shook her head. "If me talking was the highlight on your day, then-"

"I like it when I'm not a plant too," said Miku, looking at Luka.

Luka blinked. "O-oh."

Miku glanced over at Rin and Meiko, who were deep in their discussion about whatever 'off-screen' meant, before continuing. "And," Miku looked down, "I don't want some things to change now that I'm not a plant."

"Huh?"

Miku frowned and grabbed Luka's hand. Luka stared at it. "Like this. I used to, um, with my leaves..." Miku trailed off. "Well, I don't know how to describe it, but it was sort of like this!"

Luka was relatively sure that she was blushing now. "Oh."

"Wow, Luka, your vocabulary is so varied," said Rin as she sat herself down at the table.

Miku immediately drew her hands away. "Y-you were listening?"

"You two were literally having this discussion right in front of us," said Rin. "It's not like I can turn off my ears. So you'll be staying in Luka's room, right?"

"Huh? When did I say _that?"_

"When you said 'I don't want some things to change now that I'm a plant,'" Meiko supplied as she sat down too.

Miku's face turned a shade redder and she stared intently at her food. "I-I didn't mean _that_. A-anyways, you two should just mind your own business," she pointed a fork at them. "This is private stuff between me and Luka!"

"You turned into a _plant_ for two months. And you were like, the gayest plant ever," Rin took a bite of her toast. "You were caressing Luka with your leaves, and you grew little rainbow flowers. Whatever privacy you had is gone."

"Oh my god," Miku mumbled, her face bright red as she stared fixedly at her toast.

Luka figured that this was a bad time to pitch in and say that she didn't mind if Miku stayed in her room. For one, it seemed a bit too forward for the moment. "Miku was a good plant," said Luka instead.

"Thank you, Luka," said Miku with a sigh. "At least someone believes in me."

"Right..." said Meiko. "Anyways, you two look like you have some things to talk through, so I'm going to leave."

"Meiko," said Rin, "it's awkward if you point it out like that. You should have said something like, "I need to use the bathroom for the next hour, bye"."

"How is that awkward, and also, what you said makes me sound like a weirdo."

"No it doesn't! It's a perfectly natural thing!"

"Anyways," Meiko grabbed Rin by her collar. "We'll be taking our leave now. Bye."

And with that, they were gone, leaving Luka and Miku alone. Miku looked down at her food again. Luka twiddled her thumbs. The new silence was an almost physical presence, filling up Luka's insides.

"So, I guess I'll just say it," Miku mumbled. She took a deep breath before speaking, her words all jumbled together in a rush. "So I had a crush on you for the longest time but I was too shy to say anything so I became a plant to get your attention and I _did_ and I was really happy but I turned back to normal once you told me you missed me and I really liked how you would talk to me and rub my leaves and try to take care of me when I was a plant _so,"_ Miku took another breath, "would you maybe please consider possibly going out with me on a date someday maybe if you have time?"

Luka held up a hand. "Give me a second to take in all that." She paused. "You can turn into a plant _at will?"_

"Well," said Miku, "no, it's kind of a long story. And geez," Miku crossed her arms and puffed out her cheeks, "out of that entire speech, that's the only thing you ask about?"

"I-it's a lot to process...turning into a plant might be normal for you, but it's still strange..."

"Well, you can process it after you answer my question!"

"Okay!" Luka held her hands up and sighed. "I...had fun with you when you were a plant too, and I don't want to lose that either so...yes, we can go out."

"Really?" Miku brightened up.

"Really."

"Yay!" Miku practically threw herself at Luka, forcing Luka to catch herself on the windowsill lest she fall off the chair. "I'm so happy! When are you free? When can we go?"

Luka laughed, slightly breathlessly due to how tightly Miku was holding her. "Anytime. My schedule is open."

"Can we do today?"

"T-today? Don't you want a day to, I don't know, recover from being a plant?"

"Nope," Miku shook her head. "I feel great!" She jumped up and spread her arms. "See? I'm totally fine!"

"Well," said Luka, slowly, "if you're fine with it, I'm free today."

"Really?" Miku put her hands together. "You are? This is great! Wow, turning into a plant is really effective..."

"Uh...effective for what?"

Miku only shrugged, giggled, and left, shouting something about getting ready. Luka stared after her before sighing and running a hand through her hair. She better get ready too.


End file.
